Plymouth FC administrators willing to accept 50% of fees

ADMINISTRATORS to Plymouth Argyle FC are willing to accept 50% of their outstanding fees to rescue the club.

Brendan Guilfoyle, Christopher White and John Russell, from The P&A Partnership were appointed joint-administrators on 4 May.

The team are owed approximately £750,000 in fees (to September). However, they are willing to accept a payment of half that amount and will complete the sale and subsequent Company Voluntary Arrangement - which all clubs must exit an administration from - for free.

A CVA would see repayments made to creditors over a five-year period, with supervisors appointed to oversee the process.

According to Guilfoyle, the lawyers involved in the rescue package are also outstanding about £450,000. Both the administrators and laywers received a payment of about £200,000 collectively earlier this year.

The current deal on the table from Akkeron, the asset management business, is to pay just 20% of the administrators' fees. However, Guilfoyle hopes to negotiate that figure up.

"We recognise that we have to discount our fees [for the deal to go through] and we're prepared to write off 50%," said Guilfoyle.

Akkeron is due to sell the stadium to the local council for £1.6m, which the council will lease back to Plymouth FC for an estimated £130,000 per annum. The council will also have an interest in any future development processes. Several years ago the stadium was bought by the club from the council for about £2.7m.

Player and employee wages, which have reached £3.5m, will be paid in full over five years.